Influence of Surface Modifications on the Spatiotemporal Microdistribution of Quantum Dots In Vivo

For biomedical applications of nanoconstructs, it is a general prerequisite to efficiently reach the desired target site. In this regard, it is crucial to determine the spatiotemporal distribution of nanomaterials at the microscopic tissue level. Therefore, the effect of different surface modifications on the distribution of microinjected quantum dots (QDs) in mouse skeletal muscle tissue has been investigated. In vivo real‐time fluorescence microscopy and particle tracking reveal that carboxyl QDs preferentially attach to components of the extracellular matrix (ECM), whereas QDs coated with polyethylene glycol (PEG) show little interaction with tissue constituents. Transmission electron microscopy elucidates that carboxyl QDs adhere to collagen fibers as well as basement membranes, a type of ECM located on the basolateral side of blood vessel walls. Moreover, carboxyl QDs have been found in endothelial junctions as well as in caveolae of endothelial cells, enabling them to translocate into the vessel lumen. The in vivo QD distribution is confirmed by in vitro experiments. The data suggest that ECM components act as a selective barrier depending on QD surface modification. For future biomedical applications, such as targeting of blood vessel walls, the findings of this study offer design criteria for nanoconstructs that meet the requirements of the respective application.     

Nanoporous gold bumps for low temperature bonding

Nanoporous gold bumps have been deposited on silicon wafers by electroplating a silver–gold alloy followed by etching the silver. An open-porous cellular structure of gold at meso-scale is left on top of the bumps. For flip chip bonding we found low temperature and low force bonding conditions. The porous interconnects have very promising properties, like compressibility and reduced stiffness, which should result in higher bond yield and extended reliability.     

High‐Pressure Thermal Sterilization: Food Safety and Food Quality of Baby Food Puree

The benefits that high‐pressure thermal sterilization offers as an emerging technology could be used to produce a better overall food quality. Due to shorter dwell times and lower thermal load applied to the product in comparison to the thermal retorting, lower numbers and quantities of unwanted food processing contaminants (FPCs), for example, furan, acrylamide, HMF, and MCPD‐esters could be formed. Two spore strains were used to test the technique; Geobacillus stearothermophilus and Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, over the temperature range 90 to 121 °C at 600 MPa. The treatments were carried out in baby food puree and ACES‐buffer. The treatments at 90 and 105 °C showed that G. stearothermophilus is more pressure‐sensitive than B. amyloliquefaciens. The formation of FPCs was monitored during the sterilization process and compared to the amounts found in retorted samples of the same food. The amounts of furan could be reduced between 81% to 96% in comparison to retorting for the tested temperature pressure combination even at sterilization conditions of F₀‐value in 7 min.     

Process and performance optimization by selective assembly of battery electrodes

The increasing demand for electric vehicles and thus lithium-ion batteries results in a multitude of challenges in production technology. The reproducibility and performance of large scale batteries for automotive applications are very high. At the same time the production processes are complex and involve many uncertainties. Two essential process steps are the electrode coating and electrode package assembly. The mass loading of anodes and cathodes are determined by the coating process, where deviations can be caused by different reasons. The selective assembly of the electrodes is a reasonable way to balance the production variances. The contribution shows extended algorithms and their benefits and drawbacks of matching electrodes in order to improve the subsequent electrode packaging process. Here, the aim is to reach higher cell capacities and optimized performance values by “optimally” balanced electrodes regarding the mass loading ratio, which is also related to the specific material capacity.     

Elastic Space: Latent Formations in Fashion and Architecture

In search of an architectural response to shifting contemporary environments, the paper investigates the notion of latency in the related fields of sartorial fashion and architecture. The paper unfolds the possibility of a material and phenomenal elasticity that facilitates responsive architecture through a re-coding and re-contextualization of user, occupation and space.     

Gallium gradients in Cu(In,Ga)Se2 thin‐film solar cells

The gallium gradient in Cu(In,Ga)Se₂ (CIGS) layers, which forms during the two industrially relevant deposition routes, the sequential and co‐evaporation processes, plays a key role in the device performance of CIGS thin‐film modules. In this contribution, we present a comprehensive study on the formation, nature, and consequences of gallium gradients in CIGS solar cells. The formation of gallium gradients is analyzed in real time during a rapid selenization process by in situ X‐ray measurements. In addition, the gallium grading of a CIGS layer grown with an in‐line co‐evaporation process is analyzed by means of depth profiling with mass spectrometry. This gallium gradient of a real solar cell served as input data for device simulations. Depth‐dependent occurrence of lateral inhomogeneities on the µm scale in CIGS deposited by the co‐evaporation process was investigated by highly spatially resolved luminescence measurements on etched CIGS samples, which revealed a dependence of the optical bandgap, the quasi‐Fermi level splitting, transition levels, and the vertical gallium gradient. Transmission electron microscopy analyses of CIGS cross‐sections point to a difference in gallium content in the near surface region of neighboring grains. Migration barriers for a copper‐vacancy‐mediated indium and gallium diffusion in CuInSe₂ and CuGaSe₂ were calculated using density functional theory. The migration barrier for the In_Cu antisite in CuGaSe₂ is significantly lower compared with the Ga_Cu antisite in CuInSe₂, which is in accordance with the experimentally observed Ga gradients in CIGS layers grown by co‐evaporation and selenization processes. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Windshield recycling focused on effective separation of PVB sheet

The study is focused on windshield recycling process resulting in poly(vinyl butyral) (PVB) sheets with very low amout of remain glass particles. PVB sheets were obtained from worldwide manufacturer DuPont and then they were laminated by standard autoclaving process. One sample of PVB sheet was modified by multi‐functional organic acid in order to compare various levels of adhesion. Three‐stage technology was proposed for recycling PVB sheets. In the first‐stage laminated safety glass was mechanically cracked. In the second‐stage the adhesion reduction to minimal degree was followed by chemical‐physical assisted separation. It causes self‐release of the glass out of the PVB sheet. The third‐stage was mechanical peeling of the remaining glass from the PVB sheet which completed the recycling process. The optimal process conditions for the most effective delamination process were found. Delamination technology produces PVB sheet with minimal residual glass content (up to 300 ppm) and minimal change in PVB sheet properties. Described recycling technology is ecologically friendly (the effluent is fully recyclable as well) and could reduce the worldwide problem with windshield waste disposal. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014 , 131, 39879.